Great Responsibility
by dragongoddess13
Summary: Dr. Sakura Haruno has devoted her life to helping people, but now, helping people takes on a whole new meaning as her body starts changing. With the help of her best friend Ino, she'll put her new powers to use and continue doing what she does best. Superhero AU
1. Enter Sandman

Great Responsibility

A/N: This sort of came out of nowhere and I don't know if there will be anymore, but we shall see.

xXx

"This is why everyone hated you in school."

"Because my first reaction to getting Superpowers is to help people?"

"Exactly, little miss goody two shoes. Staying home from parties on the weekend to study,"

"I needed a scholarship!"

"Passing on frat parties to volunteer at the hospital,"

"I was pre-med."

"And now you're a superhero."

"Well I could have become a super villain."

"No, you couldn't have." Ino said matter of fact. "There's not an evil bone in your body. You thought you hit a squirrel last month, no proof, just felt a bump and were completely inconsolable."

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Whatever, are you going to help me or not?"

"Of course I'm going to help you, forehead. That was never in question." Ino told her. She turned back to the television where the news had been playing a loop of the accident at Uchiha Technologies the night before. A dark figure, never made clear to any bystanders or news cameras, flew around the rubble of the company's courtyard where civilians were getting help from first responders. Every once in awhile a shot of the CEO, Sasuke Uchiha, was shown, his eyes tracking the dark figure. "I can't believe you saved all those people. No, that's a lie. Yes I can. I can't believe I actually got to witness it, though."

Sakura smiled at her best friend.

They're attentions were drawn to the television again as a familiar voice began to speak. " _The employees of Uchiha Technologies are family, losing even one of them is a devastation I can't full articulate. But to look at all of this,"_ he gestured to the rubble behind him, the wrecked courtyard the damaged facade. " _And know that because of the actions of a single unidentified individual, we didn't lose anyone last night, it's a miracle."_

" _That was Uchiha Sasuke, CEO of Uchiha Technologies, earlier this morning. The tech giant's main branch was hit last night by a powerful localized earthquake, the aftershocks of which are still being felt in the farthest reaches of the city. Scientists have yet to determine what caused it, but many are speculating it may have come from within the building. Uchiha Technologies is no stranger to controversy. Under the former CEO, Uchiha Fugaku, experiments deemed unethical and in violation of the Harvard Genetics Compact, by a board of scientific review were held and subsequently shut down. At this time it is just speculation, and concern is growing over whether or not this anomaly with happen again._

 _Reporting live from Uchiha Square, I'm Hyuga Hinata, back to the studio."_

"So, exactly how long have you had these powers?" Ino asked as she switched off the television in Sakura's apartment.

Sakura shrugged. "A couple of days after I responded to that chemical explosion on the docks I woke up from a weird dream and realized I was floating above my bed. For the rest of the day weird things kept happening. I broke a mug just from picking it up. I cracked my desk when I got frustrated at work. I could hear things that were happening on other floors of the hospital. I got side swiped by a crash cart and the cart fell apart. Oh and worst of all, I woke up a few days after that and my hair was pink, and my eyes were even more green than usual."

"I knew you didn't dye that. There's no way that bright color went on over natural red in one sitting. It's just not possible." Ino mused. Sakura rolled her eyes. "That's going to be a dead give away, ya know."

"Yeah, I know, but what can I do. I tried to dye it back last week and it was pink again in the morning."

"Hmmm," Ino hummed. "I don't know. I'll figure it, in the meantime, let's get you suited. Something durable to keep up with your new powers, something to help you stabilize yourself when you fly. Your flying really fast, so definitely something that'll keep you warm up there. It's gotta be flexible for hand to hand combat. It also has to take a hit. Non Flammable, water resistant, non conductive." Ino continued to list what they would need and Sakura didn't interrupt her. She'd witnessed Ino work enough times to know this was her process and interruption could throw her off. "I think I've got it." Ino finally said sometime later. "I've been working on a new material for military and first responder uniforms, I bet I could retrofit it into something for you." she turned and grabbed her purse and jacket off the sofa. "I'll run to my lab and grab my samples, I'll let you know what I come up with."

"Thanks Ino, I don't know what I would do without you." Sakura said as she walked her to the door.

"You'd be totally lost." Ino teased.

xXx

It took a few tries and several arguments before they finally settled on a uniform. All black with red pinstripes; it was sleeveless, and came to a short collar around her neck. She wore matching knee high boots with thicker padding along the shins and finger less gloves on her hands with inlaid hard polymers in the knuckles. Sakura had managed to talk Ino out of the cape. She'd been practicing her flying and she was pretty confident she didn't need it. The material Ino had created with reactive and should temperatures drop it would expand to cover her arms and the bottom her her face below the black domino mask.

"Have you always been this muscular?" Ino asked.

"I think so, I never really noticed to be honest. I mean I go to the gym every morning before I have to be at the hospital." Sakura explained, checking herself out in the full length Ino had set out.

"You have time to go to the gym every morning, but not to go on the dates I set up for you?" Ino asked.

Sakura shrugged. "Set them up at four in the morning, _which_ is my only free time during the day and I'll go on a few."

"Urgh, I can't do that. The only guys available that early in the morning are meat heads and you deserve better."

"I appreciate that." Sakura replied with a chuckle. "You know you don't have to set me up, right? I mean I appreciate the effort, but it's okay if I don't find someone until later in life."

"I know that." Ino said. "I just, I want to return the favor. You set me up with the love of my life, I want to help you find yours."

"And I love you for that, but I just don't think I'm in a place in my life where I have time to worry about that." Sakura sighed. "Especially now if I'm going to be taking all of this on too."

"Yeah, well, while your out there saving lives, don't forget to live your own, okay?"

xXx

"You've been staring at those security feeds for days little brother. Don't you think you should take a break?" Uchiha Itachi called out as he entered Sasuke's lab.

"Hn." was Sasuke's only reply. Itachi sighed, shaking his head.

"Sasuke, what are you trying to find? You've been over this footage dozens of times. You're not going to find what you're looking for here."

Sasuke sighed. "It's not just about finding out who saved everyone." he finally replied. "This company, this family has been through far too much already. I need to know how this happened, if it was our fault."

"Making yourself sick, neglecting your needs, isn't going to help you figure that out." Itachi told him. "You should come back to the Manor with me. Mom is worried sick. Let her feed you, let her dote on you and then you can come back here and do what you think is necessary."

"Is dad there?" Sasuke asked and Itachi didn't have to answer. He already knew.

Sasuke had looked up to his older brother his entire life, a byproduct of his father giving him very little reason to look up to him. It still came as a shock, however, when an investigation revealed the nature of the experiments his father was sponsoring. Genetic tampering, chemical weaponry, it was virtual nightmare. The company was rocked by the scandal, the blow softened only by the fact that it had been Uchiha Itachi's investigation that outed his father's crimes and his lack of hesitance to inform the world. Uchiha Fugaku was currently on house arrest, pending further investigation into his dealings.

As a federal agent, Itachi had no interest in taking over the family business, so the responsibility fell to Sasuke, who immediately started work cleaning up his father's mess. He'd come up through the company as an engineer, though he had several degrees under his belt, and he'd learned to care for the people of the company more than the company itself. It was with this philosophy that he garnered favor with the employees and confidence from the public.

Sasuke sighed. "I'm fine." he finally said, turning back to his bank of computers. He started the feeds from the beginning, playing them through and resolutely ignoring the fact that Itachi was looking over his shoulder now.

"Hold on, go back." Itachi told him. "Back to the beginning."

"Did you see something?" Sasuke asked as he restarted the feed.

"Maybe."

They watched it again, only the first few minutes before the quake started. "There, play it again." he did. "There, pause. Now zoom in on this section."

"Is that a man?" Sasuke asked. He hit play, this time the video focused on the blurry figure peeking in on the corner of the screen. The man seemed to be talking to himself, his posture stiff, limbs twitching every so often. No one seemed to notice him, which Sasuke thought was probably a good thing.

Suddenly the man stopped twitching, his face blank. They watched in horror as he looked up at the camera and smiled, a truly terrifying expression. The building began to shake around him, but he didn't move, even as the ceiling collapsed in in the entryway and was lost to the camera.

"What the hell was that?" Sasuke exclaimed.

Itachi wasted no time, pulling his phone out of his pocket and dialing. He gently pushed Sasuke to the side, taking over the computer. "Deidara, I'm sending you a screen shot, can you clean it up and run facial recognition on it?" Itachi paused, listening to the man on the other end of the line. "Good, I just sent it through. Make this your top priority."

Itachi had barely hung up when a small jolt sent the lights flickering. A split second later the building began to shake, knocking things off of shelves and table tops. Beyond the floor to ceiling glass windows, the lights of the skyline were also flickering, the night sky lighting up and dimming over and over as the quake grew stronger.

xXx

"It's happening again?" Sakura questioned, keeping Ino on her feet as the blonde got up off the sofa and made her way to her laptop.

"Another Earthquake. It's centered at U-Tech again." Ino explained as she typed furiously at her computer. "Time to put that new suit to the test I think."

Sakura nodded, disappearing into the bedroom to change. When she came back out the quake had slowed, but tremors could still be felt. "Are you going to be alright here by yourself?" she asked.

"I'm fine. Your building was retrofitted for earthquakes years ago. These little tremors won't do much." Ino explained. "Here, take this." she continued, handing over a small black ear piece. "We can communicate with that. I'll keep you updated on everything. Talk you through anything you need help with."

"Alright, let's do this."

xXx

"Kumomaru Gaara." Itachi said, reading the text off his phone. Records indicated he was treated for chemical poisoning after the explosion at the docks a few months ago. He had an episode at the hospital, attacked a nurse and disappeared. He's been missing ever since."

"What's he doing here then?" Sasuke asked.

"I don't know." Itachi replied, drawing his side arm.

The two brothers had managed to work they're way down from Sasuke's private lab and into the public offices. They'd found several employees hunkered down under cover on their way and had brought them along.

"Everyone stick together, we're going to go for that emergency stairwell." Itachi told the group, pointing out the door across the bullpen. "We need to move quickly and quietly to the first floor."

They all agreed, but before they could move, the ceiling caved in on the far side, Gaara appearing in the rubble and debris.

"Uchiha." he breathed, his voice like gravel, deep and echoing all at once. His face was cracked like pottery, lines of black under the breaks, interspersed with fine particles, floating through the cracks and around his body.

Sasuke made a split second decision. "If your problem is with us, then let these people go." he said. "They've got nothing to do with whatever grievances you have with our father."

"How do you know his problem is with Fugaku?" Itachi muttered.

"Playing the odds." Sasuke replied.

There was a tense moment where Gaara just stood there, staring at them with his deformed face and then;

"Go." he directed toward the group.

The group was gone quickly, though Sasuke took to heart the fact that some of them were hesitant to leave them. When they were gone Sasuke turned back to Gaara.

"Maybe we can talk about this." he said. "Clearly our father did something wrong, yet another thing in a very long list of crimes. Maybe we can help you."

"The Prosecutor's office has been trying to find something to charge him with, but all the witnesses are coming up short. If you tell them what he did we can finally put him away." Itachi continued.

"What he did? What did he do?" Gaara replied, and both of them stepped back at the barely repressed rage in his eyes. "This! This is what he did!" he exclaimed, and all of a sudden there was sand everywhere. A wall of it rising up from seemingly nowhere and crashing toward them like a tidal wave. They turned to run but there was nowhere to go. The sand caught up to them, pushing them toward the glass panels on the far side of the building. The sand broke through the glass like it was nothing and the brothers were carried through the opening, dropping them twenty stories.

Sasuke could feel regret flash through him. There was so much he still wanted to do, so much to accomplish, all cut short because of a man he was cursed to call father. Sasuke closed his eyes, waiting for the ground to meet him, but whatever he expected to happen, didn't.

"Sasuke!" Itachi's voice called out to him through the howling wind and he pried his eyes open to find his brother facing him. How was that possible?

"I'd heard rumors the Uchiha brothers were adrenaline junkies, but this seems a bit ridiculous, don't you think?"

The voice that drew their attention was feminine, but distorted. Sasuke looked up, realizing rather belatedly that they were being carried, one under each arm, by a young woman. Her hair was a brilliant pink, her eyes a familiar jewel green, and she smiled at them teasingly.

Sasuke looked down to see the ground coming up to meet them much slower than before. And the next thing he knew she was setting them on their feet in the courtyard, first responders, employees who had escaped the building and new crews all around, gaping in awe.

"Thank you." Itachi broke the silence between them. The woman nodded, but before she could reply a roar erupted from the floor they'd fallen from. They looked up as more sand poured from the broken windows.

"If he keeps that up, the top floors are going to collapse and take the whole building with them." Sasuke explained.

The woman looked startled for a moment before taking a step back from them. "Find cover." she told everyone within earshot, as she bent her knees slightly and launched herself into the air with a shock wave that knocked them back a step.

"Who the hell was that?" they heard a fireman asked.

"Who cares, did you see what she did?" another added.

Sasuke saw, and he would never forget it.

xXx

"Not bad for your first official mission." Ino told her as Sakura collapsed onto the sofa, running a towarde through her wet hair.

"If all of my missions end with sand in places I don't want to talk about, then I think I'll retire early." Sakura replied.

"No you won't." Ino replied, coming to sit beside her. "You wouldn't give up helping people if your life depended on it. That's why everyone loved you in school."

"I thought everyone hated me."

"It was a love hate kind of thing. The overachiever who would drop everything to help someone, she barely knew, or even someone who was mean to her. You've been helping people all your life. This is only a natural progression." Ino explained.

Sakura blushed, reaching for the remote to avoid answering and flipping on the television. The news came up first, flashing headlines about a mysterious flying woman.

" _It was incredible." an employee from the building was quoted._

" _She just came out of nowhere and snatched the Uchiha brothers right out of the air. Saved them from certain death." another said in the montage of interviews._

" _Whoever she is," Uchiha Sasuke was next. "I hope she realized the gravity of what she's done here today. She's a hero. And I am eternally grateful for what she's done not only for me personally, but for my brother and the employees of Uchiha Technology. We can not thank her enough."_

"Well, you finally got his attention." Ino teased.

"Yeah, where was that gratitude in High School when I actually had a crush on him." Sakura laughed.

" _In other news, former CEO, Uchiha Fugaku was arrested this evening on multiple charges of murder, attempted murder and ecoterrorism. Information is still coming in, but initial reports say that the chemicals released during the South Dock tragedy three months ago can be traced back to Uchiha Technologies and the explosion that dispersed the chemicals into the air and water in that area was orchestrated by Uchiha Fugaku and his associates. All of this brings up concerns for more people like Kumomaru Gaara, a promising geology grad student whose life was forever changed when he was caught in the explosion; leaving city officials to wonder how many more people were mutated by this experimental waste and what can we expect from them in the future?"_

"She's right, who knows how many more of us are out there." Sakura said.

"We'll just have to wait and see." Ino said. "And when they show themselves, I bet you'll help them too."

Sakura smiled. "I'll do my best."


	2. Terror of The Seas

Great Responsibility

Chapter 2: Terror of the Seas

xXx

"Heat signatures show it heading west." Ino called over the comms.

"Copy that." Sakura called back. "It's fast." She continued, running through the south side docking area.

"Did you get a good look at it yet, because these thermals are unreliable but all indicators say it's massive."

"It's stuck to the shadows, but from what I can tell it _is_ pretty big." Sakura replied. "I'm not... hurgh!"

"Sakura? Sakura!" Ino called through the comms. Frantically she flipped through security feeds, still calling out Sakura's name.

"Stop screaming in my ear." Sakura replied her voice pained.

"What happened?"

"It clotheslined me." She explained struggling to her feet. Ignoring Ino's guffaws, Sakura studied her surroundings, trying to pick out anomalies in the shadows. "I think it's gone."

"Yeah, thermals are all dead. It got away."

Sakura sighed. "Alright, I'm headed back."

xXx

" _I'll analyze all the video and sound, see if I can't find something."_ Ino told her over the phone the next morning.

"Thanks Ino, I appreciate it. I don't know what that thing was, or why it was trying to break into one of the warehouses, but I doubt it's gone away for good."

" _Yeah, that did seem a little strange."_ Ino chuckled. " _How are the ribs?"_ She asked cheekily.

"They're fine. My pride on the other hand." Sakura explained. She stepped out of her office, making her way down a floor.

" _Well, lucky for you no one was around to see it."_

"Oh yeah, so lucky."

Ino laughed. " _Hey, I gotta go, this presentation isn't going to present itself."_

"Alright, I'll see you." With that they said their goodbyes and hung up.

Sakura stopped at the nurses station. "How's Takaba-San?" She asked flipping through a file, making a few notes.

"Much better. His vitals are stable and his fever is breaking." One of the nurses replied.

"Excellent, keep him on the same course and let me know if anything changes."

"Of course Haruno-sama."

"Haruno? Sakura Haruno?" A curious voice sounded and Sakura turned, coming face to face with Uchiha Itachi.

"Uchiha-San, how nice to see you again." She greeted presenting her hand.

"Likewise." He replied accepting.

"What brings you to Konoha General?" She asked.

"I'm looking for someone actually. Everyone was busy down in the ER so I thought I'd try up here." He explained.

"Of course, who are you looking for?"

Itachi pulled out a picture from the inside of his suit jacket and held it out for her. The man in the photo was well built. His skin was tan and his eyes a piercing blue.

"His name is Hoshigaki Kisame. He's a good friend of mine. Three months ago he was scheduled to leave for Australia to train for the olympics. He was going to be unreachable so when I didn't hear from him I didn't think much of it. He was supposed to be back two days ago and according to the airline he never made his flight."

"You think he's in a hospital somewhere?" She asked.

"I'm hoping he is. The alternative isn't pleasant."

"Well, let's check then." She said, gesturing for him to follow her to a computer bank down the hall. They sat in front of it as Sakura pulled up patient admittance.

"I'm not seeing any John Does in the system." She explained. "But I'll keep an eye out for him. Here," she pulled out a piece of scrap paper and scribbled a few names and phone numbers down. "These are the heads of the other hospitals and clinics in the city. Just tell them what you told me and that I sent you and they'll check they're systems too."

"Thank you, Doctor Haruno." He replied. She smiled at him.

"Please call me Sakura."

"Then I insist you call me Itachi." He replied. She agreed.

"If you need anything else, don't hesitate to call." She told him as she walked him toward the elevator.

He thanked her as the elevator arrived and stepped on.

xXx

"The Beast of South Dock, have you seen this?"

"Seen what?" Ino asked absently, fiddling with an old circuit board at the kitchen table. Across the kitchen stood her husband, Sai, a frilly apron over his dress shirt and pants. He was stirring a pot on the stove and reading from his tablet propped up on the counter.

"This article. Apparently there's a monster on the south docks." he said.

"What kind of monster?" she asked skeptically.

"One fisherman claims its a sharkman." he was starting to sound skeptical himself now.

"Like a Sahuagin from that D&D game?" Ino replied.

Sai grinned. "It's so sexy that you know that."

Ino looked up and winked at him teasingly. "Seriously though, do they actually believe there's something out there?"

"Well yeah, of course, you know how superstitious fisherman are."

Amused Ino looked up from her work again. "What do you know about fisherman?"

"I know lots of stuff." he defended.

"If you saw it on a cop drama, or read it in a fantasy novel it doesn't count." she laughed. He huffed at her and went back to stirring dinner. A few minutes later he spoke up again.

"Ooo, someone got a photo." Sai poked sing-songedly. Ino rolled her eyes and sighed, standing from the table.

"Let me guess, it's blurry and dark and completely ambiguous."

"Most likely." he replied with fake cheeriness. She laughed coming to stand beside him as he tap on the link on his tablet screen. "Oooo, one out of three babe, your average needs work." he teased, but Ino was only half listening. She picked up the tablet to get a better look.

The photo was dark, but the outline was clear. An enormous man stood at the edge of the dock, with what looked to be his back toward the camera. The shoulders were broad, it was very muscular and if she didn't know any better she'd say it was wearing pants.

"Looks like a really big man. Probably just some hobo who rolled into town." Sai spoke up.

"Yeah, probably." she replied, though not very convincingly.

"You don't think so?"

Ino shrugged. "I don't know. It could be. Or maybe it's a man who was in the wrong place at the wrong time a few months ago."

Realization lit up Sai's face. "You think he's one of those Metahumans people have been talking about for the past two weeks?"

"Well, it certainly makes more sense than a Sahuagin."

"Fair point, maybe you should take it to Uchiha, it's his mess, let him clean it up." Sai suggested.

"It's not his mess, it's his father's, he's just the unlucky schmuck who got stuck with the fallout." Ino replied, tapping away at the tablet. She emailed the picture and article to herself. She then emailed it to Sasuke.

When that was finished she picked up her phone and dialed Sakura.

xXx

Sasuke watched his brother carefully. "Do you think it's enough." he asked.

Itachi never looked up from the proposal Sasuke had asked him to look over. "Hard to say. The public is fickle. One minute they could agree with you and the next they turn on you."

Sasuke sighed. "Well that doesn't bode well."

Itachi finally looked up. "You need to relax a bit okay. It's a good first step, setting up a task force to study the chemicals and look into other possible victims. People will see that your trying to help."

Sasuke sighed, leaning back in his chair. "Fingers crossed." he muttered. Before Itachi could reply, an alert went off on Sasuke's computer. "It's just an email." Sasuke told him, seeing the concern on his face. "Huh?"

"What?"

"It's from Yamanaka Ino. She found an article she thought I should see." Sasuke explained, opening the link. "The Beast of South Dock? People have claimed to see a giant manlike monster on the docks. He steals the fisherman's catches from the storage yards at night. No one has been hurt but one fisherman claims to have caught the beast on camera." Sasuke explained.

"Why is the head of your engineering department sending you articles on local superstition?" Itachi asked.

"According to this, she thinks it's possible this is another victim of the south dock tragedy." Sasuke explained as he clicked open the picture. Itachi got up and moved around the desk, looking at the screen over Sasuke's shoulder.

"Hmmm." Itachi hummed. "You know, Kisame is six foot seven." Itachi explained. "His father wanted him to play basketball, but he was in love with the water. Used to joke about building a house underwater."

"You don't think…"

Itachi shrugged. "His dad is a fisherman. His slip and warehouse are on the South Docks. He could have been there that night. None of the leads I got from Sakura panned out either."

"Sakura? Sakura Haruno?" Sasuke asked.

"Yeah, I went to the hospital to see if any John Does were brought in, she helped me look and got me in touch with the heads of the other hospitals in the city."

"And you call her Sakura?" Sasuke questioned.

"She told me to." Itachi defended.

"Does she call you by your first name?"

"It seemed only fair. Why does it matter?" Itachi asked.

"It doesn't. Maybe we should check it out." Sasuke suggested, changing the subject. Itachi looked down at him, considering his options.

"Yeah, alright, but we stick together. Even if it is Kisame, we don't know what kind of mental state he's in."

xXx

"So you met Itachi this morning and you didn't tell me?" Ino's voice sounded through the comms.

"Why would I tell you? It's not like anything happened. He asked for my help." Sakura replied. "He would have asked one of the nurses if I hadn't been there."

"I guess that's true. He's still cute though, isn't he?" Ino teased.

"You're married." Sakura replied.

"I'm allowed to look. I have no problem with Sai looking."

"The only reason Sai would ever look at another woman is if _your_ life depended on it." Sakura replied.

"Yeah, he's so great isn't he?"

Sakura laughed. "Getting back on subject, Itachi said Kisame was supposed to leave for Australia three months ago. I looked into it and apparently his flight was the morning after the explosion."

"How did you get that information?" Ino asked.

"I called the airline and told them he was my patient."

"Can't you get in trouble for that?"

"Only if I get caught. No one has any reason to ask." Sakura explained.

"Sneaky." Ino said. "Alright, you almost there?"

"Coming up on the docks now. Are you set up?"

"Yep, infrared, video and audio." Ino explained.

"What did you tell Sai you were doing locked up in your home office?" Sakura asked.

"I told him you and I started online gaming with an all girl group." Ino laughed.

"Yeah, that's not going to blow up in your face later."

Ino sighed. "We'll burn that bridge when we get to it."

"Alright, I'm here, I'm descending to ground level." Sakura said.

"So official." Ino muttered.

Sakura rolled her eyes. "All's quiet down here. Anything on the sensors?"

"I've got two bodies on the sensors to the north, both of them are average size." Ino explained.

"Fisherman? Dockworkers?"

"Uchihas." Ino told her. "Sasuke and Itachi. Looks like they had the same idea." there was a pause then; "Shit, I've got a larger body on the thermals heading toward them."

"On my way."

xXx

Itachi stopped, halting Sasuke just behind him. He gestured for him not to speak, only to listen. They could hear the waves lapping against the support beams below them, the faint chime of a buoy out at sea and the occasional caw of a seagull. And then they heard it, the creaking of the old wooden boards, as if someone were shifting their weight from one foot to the next.

The sound came from their left and just as they turned to look, a large shadow darted from behind a stand of barrels and took off toward the ocean.

"Wait!" Itachi exclaimed giving chase. Sasuke stayed on his tail, weaving through a jungle of thick rope piles and crates. They spotted the figure turning the corner up ahead and picked up the pace to catch up, stopping short as they rounded the corner to see a large barrel careening toward them.

Before they could react the barrel was caught in midair and they were both staring at the back of their, still unnamed, hero.

"We have got to stop meeting like this gentlemen." she told them, setting the barrel aside. The shadowy figure stepped out into the beam of an overhead light, revealing himself to them. "Um…"

"Kisame?" Itachi questioned taking a step toward him. It was indeed Kisame, but where his skin had once been tan, now it was blue. There were slits in his neck like gills, though he didn't seem to be having any trouble breathing and his teeth were razor sharp.

Kisame looked confused, squinting across the darkness at them. "He's trying to figure out who you are." Sasuke spoke up.

"Kisame?" Itachi repeated, slowly raising his hands and taking slow deliberate steps toward him. "It's me, Itachi." he continued. "Remember, we were roommates in college, we've been friends ever since we got back at the guy next door for smoking in his room and setting off the sprinklers?"

Kisame was watching him closely, scrutinizing his every movement. He still looked confused, his eyes sharp in the glare of the light.

"Be careful." Sasuke muttered under his breath, his attention torn between watching his brother and the skittish metahuman. Sakura stood at the ready, prepared to jump in should the need arise.

" _What the hell is he doing."_ Ino muttered under her breath, her voice coming through the comms. Sakura ignored her, unsure what kind of noise might set Kisame off.

"Do you remember me?" Itachi asked as he stepped a bit closer. Kisame backed up a step, shaking his head. He seemed to be in pain, they could tell, long before he clutched his head in his hands.

"Sakura, you have company. Coming up from behind." Ino called out and Sakura snapped her attention to the far side of the dock, behind Itachi and Kisame. She saw the flash of metal before the man carrying it. Three men stepped out of the shadows all of them brandishing weapons of some kind; one with a gun. There was fear in their eyes and anger in their countenance.

"Wait, stop!" she yelled as one of them raised the gun. She took off without thinking, putting herself between them and Kisame as the gun went off.

" _What the hell are you doing?"_ She heard Ino scream through the blood rushing in her ears. It took Sakura a moment to realize the three men were staring at her in shock.

She catalogued what was supposed to happen next;

Pain

Shock sets in

Weakness

Numbness in the body,

But none of that happened. Sakura looked down at herself, and all of a sudden everything came rushing back in. Ino was still yelling at her through the comm, the men were now yelling as they chased after Kisame down the dock and Itachi was yelling at them to stop.

There was no bullet hole, she was completely unharmed. "Apparently I'm bulletproof." she finally spoke.

"You mean you didn't know?" Sasuke said just as Ino screamed; " _What the fuck is wrong with you?"_

More gunshots rang out, pulling Sakura from her thoughts and she turned abruptly, taking off for the far end of the docks. "I need to know what I'm flying into." Sakura directed through the comms.

" _Itachi is running down those men. I can't see Kisame anywhere."_ Ino replied.

"I can't see him either." Sakura added. From overhead she could see the chase, but the mens' target was nowhere to be seen.

"Federal agent, Stop!" she heard Itachi yell and surprisingly the men stopped. Sakura hovered watching his back as he ordered the men to drop their weapons. Itachi was calling for backup when Sakura noticed the shadow of a large body looming a short distance away. As quietly as she could, she flew around, coming up behind Kisame. He heard her as her feet hit the dock and turned to face her.

Sakura noticed immediately, something was different about him. "The confusion comes and goes." he told her, noticing her own confusion. "Sometimes I remember who I am, sometimes I don't." he continued.

"And you remember now." she replied. He nodded.

"Are you alright?" he asked, gesturing to where there should have been a bullet hole.

"Yeah, apparently I'm bulletproof." she told him.

" _Who just jumps in front of a bullet they don't know they can survive?"_ Ino grumbled. Sakura ignored her.

"Did you know that before you jumped in front of me?"

She shook her head.

"You're either very brave or really stupid." he told her.

" _Stupid, definitely stupid."_ Ino replied and Sakura scowled reaching up and pulling out the comm device. " _No, don't…"_

"I'd like to think that I played a hunch that worked in my favor." Sakura replied.

Kisame smirked. "You keep telling yourself that." he answered as sirens sounded in the distance. Kisame turned to leave.

"Wait, where are you going?"

"Back to the water. It's clearly not safe for me here anymore." he told her.

"What about Itachi? He's been looking for you for days now."

Kisame hesitated. "I appreciate that, but he can't help me now."

"Yes he can. They figured out how this happened to you and to everyone else who was there that night." she explained. "Sasuke is working on fixing it."

The sirens were getting closer and they could both here Itachi calling out, most likely to Sasuke.

"You don't want any of them to see you like this, do you?" Sakura asked softly. His expression was all the answer she needed. "Meet me at your father's slip tomorrow night. I'll bring Itachi, we'll get you somewhere safe, somewhere they can help you."

Kisame didn't outright agree. "We'll see." he told her, before turning and taking a running leap into the water below.

Sakura watched from a moment before replacing her comm, only to be greeted by Ino's ongoing rant. "Have you been talking this whole time?" Sakura interrupted.

" _Oh, now you want to talk to me?"_

Sakura sighed, rolling her eyes.


	3. Metahuman Task Force

Great Responsibility

Chapter 3: Metahuman Task Force

xXx

To:Yamanaka Ino

From: Uchiha Sasuke

First and foremost I would like to thank you for your email. We were able to identify this so called Beast of South Dock and are now taking steps to aid him in anyway we can. That being said, I intended to get in contact with you before your email. You're actions last night have secured my confidence in the offer I would like to present to you. I hope that you can find the time this morning to meet with me to discuss this further.

I will be in my office until noon and again this afternoon from 1:30 to 4:00. Please stop by when you can.

Thank you,

Uchiha Sasuke

CEO, Uchiha Technologies

"What do you think he wants to talk to you about?" Sakura asked, sipping her coffee.

"There are rumors going around the company that Sasuke is putting together a team to deal with the fallout from the South Docks. Judging by his response to my email last night, I think he's going to ask me to be on the team." Ino replied, moving around the kitchen to refill her coffee, before returning to sit on the opposite end of the sofa.

"Are you going to accept?" Sakura passed the tablet back to Ino.

Ino shrugged. "Maybe, there's no reason I shouldn't. If we can figure out a way to help these metahumans I'm all for it."

Sakura hummed, taking a drink of her coffee.

"Plus," Ino continued. "If I do join the team, it'll give us the resources and inside information we'll need to keep up with all the metahumans that pop up."

Before Sakura could reply, Sai walked out of the back bedroom, adjusting his tie. "Hey, Sakura." he greeted her, leaning down to kiss his wife over the back of the sofa. "You dyed your hair back?" he continued finally getting a good look at her. He turned for the kitchen to make himself a cup of coffee.

Sakura hesitated. She'd forgotten she hadn't seen Sai since Ino had devised the holo ring. A brilliant piece of technology that bent the light around her to disguise her now dark pink hair and unnaturally green eyes.

"Oh yeah, after seeing that woman on the news I was getting some weird looks." Sakura explained.

Sai chuckled. "I'd imagine so. Not that I'm complaining, but aren't you usually at the hospital at this time?"

Sakura nodded. "Yes, but I'm not seeing patients today. There's a group of interns that I'll be showing around all afternoon, so I'm taking the morning off."

"She took the morning off and still managed to get more done before seven than any of us." Ino teased.

Sai chuckled as Sakura stuck her tongue out at Ino. He fixed his coffee into a travel mug and pulled a piece of fruit out of the fruit bowl on the counter.

"Going in already?" Ino asked.

"Yeah, I've got a ton of work still left to do before the exhibition this weekend." he explained. "You ladies have fun." he continued kissing Ino goodbye heading for the door.

"Shouldn't you be getting to work soon too?" Sakura asked when he was gone. Ino shrugged.

"The new head of our sister lab in Suna driving me up a wall. He won't stop calling to "brag" about his discoveries."

"Brag?" Sakura questioned imitating the air quotes. Ino rolled his eyes.

"He says he's calling to compare notes. Their lab is working on the biological component of our joint project." Ino explained.

"You don't think he's calling to compare?"

Ino scoffed. "He has a history of tooting his own horn. He's been doing this since Fugaku split the project up."

"Why would Fugaku split the project up. You're more than qualified to oversee both sides." Sakura asked.

"He called it cost friendly. Something about it being cheaper to use two existing labs instead of moving all that valuable equipment into one new lab. Which is kind of ridiculous because we were already using one lab before he made the decision. Sasuke over saw the engineering side and I oversaw the Bioengineering side. And since both of us are well equipped in both fields we could work together well."

"Let me guess. He didn't like that you were in charge." Sakura said knowingly.

"To be fair, I get the impression he thinks everyone is beneath him."

"I'm surprised Sasuke hasn't gotten rid of him yet." Sakura commented.

"I think he planned too, but there's been so much going on he probably doesn't have time to figure out the logistics of everything." Ino replied. She sighed, getting up and moving into the kitchen. Sakura followed her. "One way or another, your right, I do need to get to work."

"Yeah, I better get to the hospital and prepare for these interns." Sakura agreed. "Are you going to be free tonight?" she continued.

"Yep, Sai is working late so I'm all yours. What time do you have to meet Itachi at the docks?"

"Around eight. Meet me here at seven?"

"Sounds good."

xXx

" _Uchiha-san, Yamanaka-san is here to see you."_ his intercom clicked on and off.

"Thank you, send her in." Sasuke replied. He looked up from his computer as the door opened. Ino stepped in and Sasuke stood as she entered, offering her the seat on the other side of his desk. "I'm sure by now you have a pretty good idea why I called you here." He said.

"I believe I do." She replied.

"Well then allow me to confirm it. This task force I'm putting together will be charged with the responsibility to help meta humans live with and control their powers without hurting people or themselves. Ultimately we are working toward a cure." he explained.

"And what about the metas who don't want to be cured. The ones who would use their powers to hurt people?" Ino asked.

"What did you have in mind?" he replied.

"Well, should any metas who would use their powers for personal gain or to hurt people arise, we'll need a way to hold them if their caught. The normal prison won't hold them."

"That's a good point. We'll have to work on that too." he told her. "Honestly, I hoped to run this task force myself, but I have a feeling there's going to be a lot of work to do elsewhere. I won't be able to devote the time. So, I want you to run it."

Ino looked surprised. "You...want _me_ to run the task force?"

"It's the perfect fit." he told her. "You have the expertise in multiple fields, people like you and are willing to listen to your ideas. Plus, its become increasingly obvious that you care about these people and what they're going through."

"I… I appreciate the opportunity." she replied still awe struck. "But what about my other projects?"

"If you think you can handle it, your more than welcome to continue working on them, otherwise I'll expect you to appoint someone to take over for you as soon as possible."

"Of course. How much time to I have to figure everything out?" she asked.

"I can only afford you a few days. We're hoping to bring another Meta in tonight and he'll want us to start immediately trying to help him."

Ino nodded in understand. "Alright then, if that's all I should get back to my office and get back to work then."

"Of course. Let me know what you decide."

xXx

"Twenty minutes until contact." Sakura said, leaning over the side of a warehouse roof ledge, overlooking the Hoshigaki boat slip. "So he wants you to run the task force?"

"Yes, I know it's crazy. I wasn't expecting that at all." Ino replied. "I mean, I just assumed he wanted me to run tests, or design things for the team."

"You completely deserve the position but what about your projects?" Sakura asked.

"I've already got a short list of my replacements for the joint research projects, and I'll take my personal work with me and try to apply it to the task force."

"Sorry to interrupt. I've got movement below." Sakura explained.

There was a pause before Ino replied; "It's Itachi and Sasuke. They're early, ten minutes to spare."

"I got the feeling last night, Itachi is worried Kisame won't show." Sakura explained.

"From what you've told me, I wouldn't be surprised either." Ino replied. "Either he doesn't show because he doesn't want to bother anyone, or he doesn't show because he doesn't remember who he is."

Sakura hummed. "I guess we'll have to see." she said. With that she jumped off the edge, floating down to ground level and gaining Sasuke and Itachi's attention.

"So this is what it's like to meet you guys when your not in danger." she teased as she approached them. Sasuke looked away the faintest blush around his cheeks while Itachi laughed.

"It's twice now, we certainly owe you." he told her.

She smiled. "Just doing my job."

"Yeah, about that," Sasuke began, only for Sakura's attention to be drawn away from him to the end of the dock. They all turned, watching as Kisame hoisted himself over the edge.

"Not late am I?" he asked, looking between them.

"Right on time." Itachi replied, stepping forward.

Kisame nodded. "So where to?"

"A satellite branch of Uchiha Tech outside the city." Sasuke explained. "We're setting up a Metahuman task force there."

Kisame snorted. "Yeah, I've heard that's what they're calling us." he looked to Sakura who shrugged.

"As long as no one is using it as a slur." she told him.

"Alright fine, let's go."

The task force's headquarters was not far from the south docks. "This is where the company stored the chemicals from the South Dock Explosion. I didn't even know this place existed until Gaara attacked the main branch last month." Sasuke explained as they pulled up to the back of the small compound. The perimeter of the property was well guarded, with security fencing, guard stations and state of the art monitoring equipment.

"Did they make the chemical here?" Sakura asked.

"No, I still don't know where that was done, or how for that matter. Fugaku had this place cleared out after the incident. He also cleared out all of the computer logs and hard copies. I have no idea where or how the chemical was made, which is one of the things the task force is being _tasked_ to figure out." he continued.

At the docks they'd all piled in to Itachi's SUV, now, Itachi pulled it through an old warehouse loading door and into the building where several vehicles were parked just beyond. They all got out as the door closed behind them.

"I've had people working nonstop to put this all together. It's almost finished." Sasuke told Kisame as he led the way toward a door on the far side of the enclosed parking area. Using a keycard he unlocked the door, then led them through.

"This is the main lab. Everyone will be working here for the most part." Sasuke continued. "The rooms directly off of this one are smaller labs and test chambers." he continued through the room, to an open doorway on the other side. From there they entered a long hallway with two or three rooms on either side. Sasuke reached into his pocket and pulled out a white swipe card with the Uchiha logo on it. He handed it to Kisame. "Any room you want is yours, except for the one on the very end. Gaara has already set up in there."

Kisame took the card and flipped it around in his hands. "I can only go a few hours out of water." he finally said.

"I figured as much. There's a shower in one of the labs that I've had hooked up to a salinization tank. It should hold you over until the contractors finish building the salt water pool in one of the extensions."

"You did all of this over night?" Kisame questioned impressed.

"We've been working on the facility as a whole for about a week now, but we did get the shower system and other rooms set up over night. The contractors for the pool are supposed to start work in the morning."

" _Impressive."_ Sakura heard Ino mutter through the comms.

"I'm hoping to have the entire team assembled here on Monday, but until then, make yourself at home." Sasuke told him.

Kisame nodded, clearly impressed with the younger Uchiha. He stalked off down the hall, Itachi on his heels.

"How's Gaara doing?" Sakura asked when they were out of earshot.

Sasuke looked over at her and it occurred to him, suddenly, that he didn't know what to call her. "He's alright." he replied. "Security said he was out back. We turned the lot out there into a sand pit. He's using it to learn control."

"Good, I'm glad to hear it." she said. She smiled at him and for a moment he once again found her familiar.

Sasuke nodded. "Which reminds me," He began. "I hope you know that all of this is for you as well. It's not just a place to drop off metahumans when you find them. We have other resources that may be useful to you."

Sakura laughed. "It kind of sounds like your offering me a job."

"Maybe a little." He replied, shoving his hands into his pockets. It was nervous habit she hadn't seen him do since they were kids, long before that guarded persona took over.

"Well, I appreciate it. I should get going though. I want to patrol the city before I call it a night." She explained.

"Hn." Sasuke answered. He pulled his hands from his pockets and with it, a key card. "There's an access way on the roof. That should get you in and out."

With a quick thank you, Sakura turned on her heels and left.

xXx

" _Wow, you didn't even embarrass yourself in front of him for once."_ Ino teased.

"We're not talking about this." Sakura cut her off as she launched herself off the roof and into the air. She could hear the amusement in Ino's voice as she continued.

"I've got a silent alarm going off in the shopping district. Police are in route." Ino explained.

"Does it look like the work of a metahuman?"

"Not at the moment, but you never know."

"Alright then, let's go."


	4. Wonder Woman

Great Responsibility

Chapter 4: Wonder Woman

xXx

 **"Wonder Woman" Thwarts Jewel Heist!**

 **By: Sarutobi Konohamaru...**

"Wonder Woman? Is that what their calling her now?" Naruto questioned over the edge of Sasuke's tablet.

"Apparently." Sasuke replied, taking it back and setting it flat against the table.

"What's she like?" He continued taking a bite out of his bacon. Sasuke couldn't help but notice how enthusiastic Naruto had been about the mysterious woman who'd saved Sasuke's life numerous times now.

"Wonderful." Sasuke replied sarcastically, turning to his own breakfast. He couldn't blame Naruto, but at the moment her origins, and the origins of all metahumans was weighing far too heavily on him for Sasuke to enjoy the near fanciful world they found themselves in as of late.

Naruto scowled. "Well your in a great mood today." he muttered.

Sasuke sighed, taking a drink of his coffee. "I'm sorry. I just have a lot going on right now."

Naruto hummed. He could understand that. For as long as Naruto had known Sasuke, the youngest Uchiha had taken the world on his shoulders. He strove to be the kind of person his father wasn't, respected because he'd earned it from his peers and colleagues not because he'd bought that respect with money and or fear. On top of that, his struggle to do what was right for his family and what was right for everyone was a near constant battle growing up. He struggled with living up to his family name and still keeping with his own goals. In the end, Sasuke had come to realize that family wasn't just blood and just because his father was leading their family, didn't mean all of his decisions were for the best.

With all of that in mind, Naruto watched his best friend reconcile what was best for his family and what was the right thing to do and eventually he grew into the young man sitting across from him now. After years long struggle with what life was supposed to be, he finally settled in to life as he wanted it to be, and Naruto couldn't be happier for him.

Of course, his father would find a way to ruin it for him. Now Sasuke was left to clean up his father's mess, trying to fix his family's legacy.

"So, how's work?" Sasuke spoke up, drawing Naruto from his thoughts.

"It's alright. Little crazy at the moment, but it should settle down in a few weeks." Naruto replied.

"I heard Fugaku hired your firm for his defense." Sasuke continued.

"Yeah, he did. One of the senior partners asked me to take it but I turned it down." He explained. "Can't defend someone I don't think is innocent. Shikamaru wouldn't take the case either."

"Hn."

"How's that going on your end?"

Sasuke sighed. "He saw this coming that much is certain."

"What do you mean?"

"Everything has been wiped clean. Digital copies, hard copies, there's no trail anywhere. I can't even figure out where the chemicals came from. Whatever lab they were manufactured in is completely off the map." Sasuke explained. "If it weren't for Gaara's testimony, the D.A. would have nothing on him."

"And the first step to winning a case like this is discrediting the witness. Which won't be difficult." Naruto explained. "A witness who came to light by attacking the children of the man who allegedly did this to him. The defense will tear him apart on the stand. I'd be surprised if they didn't try to get his testimony thrown out before all of this starts."

"If they do that the D.A. won't have a case." Sasuke concluded.

Naruto nodded.

"I guess that means I should step up the search." Sasuke sighed. "I'm running out of places to look, honestly."

"Doesn't U Tech have divisions in other countries. Maybe it all happened overseas?"

Sasuke shook his head. "I looked there first. Logistically speaking it isn't feasible. It would have been too risky to transport those chemicals internationally. With inspections, embargos and the instability of the chemicals I don't think he could have had them moved very far from the source to their final resting place at the south docks."

"So, most likely a lab under another a name." Naruto finished. Sasuke nodded. "Still no idea who his associates are either."

"No, I think I can rule out them though. I don't think Fugaku would take the fall for someone else. He may be a crook but he's at least a noble one. He's not implicating anyone else, this is his mess."

"Fair enough. I'm sorry I can't be of more help." Naruto replied.

"It's alright, I understand. Kind of an awkward situation for you to be in anyway." he said. "I'll just have to keep plugging away. Hopefully everything will come together with the task force working on it. And, in the meantime I'll have someone work with Gaara, try to smooth his edges a bit. He's come a ways in terms of control but apparently he was a bit standoffish before all of this."

Before Naruto could reply a knock sounded at Sasuke's front door. Sasuke set aside his utensils and stood from the table, making his way across the open floor of his downtown penthouse to open the door.

"Hey." He greeted Itachi, stepping aside to let him pass. He followed Sasuke back across the apartment. "You want something to eat?" He offered.

Itachi shook his head. "I'm going to need coffee though." he replied fixing himself a cup as Sasuke retook his seat. "Naruto, how are you?"

"Not bad, you?"

"Exhausted." Itachi replied taking a seat at the table.

"You didn't stay at the facility all night did you?" Sasuke questioned.

"No, I left a little after you did last night. I got a couple hours of sleep only to wake up to a call from the office."

"Everything alright?" Sasuke asked.

Itachi shrugged. "I don't know. We got a bunch of tips overnight about ice forming at random throughout the West End."

"Ice?" Naruto asked confused.

"Mmm." Itachi replied. "Officers were sent to check it out and found an entire alley frozen over. We've got agents working on chipping the alley out."

"What was the temperature last night?" Sasuke asked.

"The lowest recorded temp was fifty-nine degrees."

"Definitely not cold enough for a portion of the city to freeze." Naruto added. Itachi nodded.

"A metahuman then?" Sasuke questioned.

"That's the theory we're working off of at this point." Itachi explained.

"Well you know you have the task force's support in your investigation."

"I was hoping you would say that. The techs at the lab are running tests but they have nothing to compare the results to. This is new territory." Itachi told them.

Sasuke hummed his understanding. "This brings up something for consideration. Perhaps a liaison between the task force and law enforcement. Someone you would speak directly to whenever you needed our resources."

"Not a bad idea. The more Metahumans that make themselves known, the more other agencies and departments are going to need the resources to identify evidence and suspects."

"Legally speaking, that could present a whole mess of problems. Someone is going to have to take a good hard look at the criminal court process for any of that to work." Naruto added, drawing their attention. "You're going to have to run something like that by the Attorney General. It won't take a exceptionally talented lawyer to say law enforcement or the DAs are out of their league and making up rules as they go along."

"Clearly, there's more to think about then I realized." Sasuke replied. He took a sip of his coffee, before standing and picking up his dishes. He dropped them into the sink and turned to walk away. "I need to make some calls, help yourself." he gestured to the breakfast spread as he walked out.

When he was gone, Naruto turned to Itachi. "I get that he's your father, but I just want to put his head through a wall sometimes."

"Your preaching to the choir." Itachi shook his head. "But, Sasuke won't leave this to anyone else. He doesn't trust anyone to do the right thing; not to take advantage of this situation for personal or professional gain."

"Can't really blame him." Naruto said. "This entire situation is ripe for the picking. I wouldn't be surprised if someone were planning a hostile takeover under all of this confusion."

"Yet another thing my brother is undoubtedly stressing about."

xXx

" _Wonder Woman?_ Really?"

Ino laughed, watching as Sakura bawled up the newspaper and tossed it into the trash can a few feet away. "It's not _so_ bad." she replied, taking a drink from her to-go cup of coffee.

Sakura shrugged.

"Well, what did you want to be called?"

"Honestly, I have no idea. I hadn't really thought about it. Only you ever address me by name." Sakura explained. "I guess I figured it didn't matter, I never stick around long enough to talk to people. Plus, superhero names make you sound so full of yourself. How do you name yourself without coming off as a moody teenager?"

"That's very true and all the more reason for you to accept this name as the blessing that it is. You didn't chose it so it's not pretentious. Besides, the public is going to call you whatever they want, regardless of what you think about it."

Sakura sighed. "Alright fine." She replied after a moment. "It could be worse I suppose. I could be supergirl, or pinky."

Ino laughed, nearly choking on her coffee. "To be fair, until your hair turned red with age, you were nearly pink to begin with."

"Strawberry blonde is not pink and even if it was it was pastel pink, not," she vaguely gestured to her head. "Raving Neon."

Ino grinned, leaning over the table. "It is pretty bright, but not as bright as those eyes."

"Ugh, don't even get me started, I look like an anime cat girl." Sakura groused. "Hey, while your working for the task force, you think you could find a way to fix all that? I mean I know the bigger picture is of course fixing all of it, but, ya know, in case you can't...think about it."

Ino shook her head, clearly amused. Sakura had never been one to focus on her looks, at least not until it mattered to everyone else. She'd been perfectly content as a little girl in oversized t-shirts and old jeans, until such a time that their peers had decided it wasn't acceptable for her to dress that way anymore. That was how they had become friends.

They knew about each other in the vague sense that kids of a certain age were aware of other kids of the same age. They ran in different circles, Ino with the friends she'd had long before starting school, and a few new ones and Sakura with whoever wasn't busy doing something else. Sakura's nose always seemed to be planted in a book, so she didn't seem to notice the lack of people around her. At least until she was made a target.

Konoha was a thriving metropolis with six schools. The biggest was Konoha High, the second largest Konoha Primary (the others, Konoha Prep, Konoha Girl's and Konoha Boy's). They were the only two schools in the city where the classes mixed and everyone was equal. Regardless of what part of town you were from, they were open to everyone.

Ino was from an Upper middle class family, rubbing elbows with families even higher than themselves, allowing her to start a life long friendship with Nara Shikamaru and Akimichi Choji. Sakura was from a lower middle class family, just barely making it over the poverty line. Coming from a shadier part of town, the children in her neighborhood weren't encouraged to play outside much and so Sakura's first real introduction to her peers wasn't until she started school. It didn't seem to bother her much, since she was content with her books and school work, and at first, noone paid her any mind.

Until they did.

Ino had been trying to convince Shikamaru that using their recess time to nap was a waste of perfectly good play time when they're attentions were drawn to the side of the playground, not far from where they currently were. They'd vaguely noticed Sakura sitting by herself with a book as they made their way past to their usual spot, but now, the young girl was surrounded by a pack of upper class snobs that even Ino couldn't tolerate. They'd thrown her book in the dirt and started taunting her which seemed to be enough for Shikamaru to snap out of whatever lethargy he was trying to hold on to. They'd stood up for her that afternoon, folding her into their group.

From then on they had been inseparable. It was like they were always meant to be friends. Ino had spent years drawing Sakura out of her shell and she was quite proud of the woman her best friend had become. Sometimes, though, Sakura found herself lapsing back into that defensiveness that reminded Ino that no matter how amazing, or down right saintly her best friend was, she wasn't perfect, and whatever petistile people put her on, wasn't always healthy for her.

Sakura's displeased grunt drew Ino out of her thoughts. "Alright, let's get this over with." she said, standing from her chair. Ino tried not to laugh.

"You could at least pretend to be excited." Ino said.

"Oh, yeah, I'm so excited. I just love shopping." Sakura replied heavy with sarcasm.

Ino rolled her eyes, standing as well. "I guess you should have thought of that before you RSVP'd to this benefit."

"I didn't RSVP." Sakura told her. "Shishio said if I didn't go she was going to increase my clinic hours. I've got a bunch of cultures in the lab, so she knows I don't have time for Clinic shifts."

Ino stepped forward and looped their arms together. "I guess you're just going to have to get over it."

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Thanks, Ino, I don't know what I would do without your support."

Ino just grinned, leading her best friend to the dress boutique across the mall.

xXx

 **Wonder Woman Strikes Again!**

 **By: Sarutobi Konohamaru**

The superheroine has once again snatched the innocent from the jaws of death, single handedly stopping a school bus from toppling over the side of the Uzumaki Minato Memorial Bridge. Investigators are still trying to piece together what happened, but witnesses say one of the support cables snapped for no discernable reason.

Oddly enough, a build up of ice was found clinging to the underside of the bridge. Even more odd, the temperature reached a peak of thirty-two degrees celcius today, making it the hottest day so far this Spring. Investigators refused to comment on this phenomenon, or whether or not it is related to the sheets of ice discovered over night in the West End, but sources say that local law enforcement will be working closely with federal investigators to ensure answers are forthcoming.


	5. The Big Freeze

Great Responsibility

Chapter 5:The Big Freeze

xXx

A/N: Just a heads up for upcoming chapters, I am a huge Sakura Multi-shipper so, seeing as how this is a slowburn fic, there will be other Sakura ships. The endgame however is Sasusaku.

xXx

 **The Flash**

 **By: Sarutobi Konohamaru**

 _It's hard to believe it's been twenty years since The Flash first ran into our lives. With the sixteenth annual Flash day approaching, let's take a look back._

 _It started with a bank robbery, turned hostage situation on 34th street. The suspects were devolving quickly and officers were concerned for the safety of the bank patrons and workers. And then it happened. The suspects were no longer in the bank, disarmed and restrained in the back of several police cruisers. Witnesses would say they didn't see anything, too busy staring at the floor, but as one robbery turned into two, three, four and police chases ended abruptly with no injuries or casualties; as the weeks went by and criminal activity was stopped in such mysterious ways, witness started coming forward._

 _A streak of light. Lightening. Eventually authorities were able to clean up security footage. The image was shown on every news station from Konoha to Suna and The Streak became The Flash. A mysterious man in red and gold, protecting the city from it's criminal underworld._

 _Two years passed and The Flash never relented in his protection of the city. Criminals upped their methods, but The Flash never backed down. He even took on a sidekick, Kid Flash, who inspired a whole generation of kids to be heroes too._

 _With the rise of The Flash came a rise in enemies including The Reverse Flash. A mysterious man in yellow and black whose identity is still unknown to this day. One battle of after another played out through the streets of Konoha, The Flash versus The Reverse Flash, virtual gods compared to the average citizen._

 _In their final battle, Konoha faced total destruction at the hands of the interdimensional beast The Reverse Flash released. So many lives were lost in that final battle, including that of beloved Mayor Minato Uzumaki, and in the end, The Flash was successful._

 _Sixteen years later, with The Flash absent for all of these years, the city is now facing a new threat. With the still unknown effects of the chemicals as well as how many people were affected by the South Dock Tragedy it isn't any wonder why this Flash Day has people asking one question;_

 _Where is The Flash?_

xXx

"This is supposed to be relaxing." Naruto muttered against the rim of his champagne glass.

"Your point?" Sasuke replied, one hand in his pocket, the other wrapped tightly around his own glass.

"My point is, you need to relax. This is a moment away from all the other crap you're dealing with right now."

Sasuke downed the rest of his champagne before setting it on the tray of a passing server. "Sure, cause nothing says calming evening out like rubbing elbows with the people my father enjoyed spending time with."

Naruto couldn't argue with that so he shrugged. "At least it's for a good cause."

Sasuke refused to acknowledge the truth in that statement. He was too busy brooding. Naruto was right though, this particular evening out involved a fundraising dinner and reception for Konoha's teaching hospital, and it's affiliated research/treatment hospital, Konoha General.

If Sasuke were honest, which at the moment he was avoiding honesty to spare himself Naruto's ire, the only reason he'd upheld his RSVP and not just sent a check, was with the hope that he would run into someone particular here. Someone who'd worked here since she finished her Residency at the teaching hospital the year prior.

"Hmm." Naruto hummed beside him, drawing Sasuke from his thoughts.

"What's wrong?"

"Sakura's here." Naruto explained, pointing across the hall. Said woman stood at the edge of the seating area, her attention just barely focused on the older man she was talking to. Her long red hair was pulled up in an elegant twist and she wore a floor length, black halter gown. "She hates these things. She always finds a way to avoid them." he smirked. "Granny must have forced her to come."

"I can't imagine why she wouldn't want to be here." Sasuke muttered under his breath. Naruto rolled his eyes.

"Your insufferable."

Sasuke smirked as Naruto shook his head. "Why don't you run along. I hear that cute reporter you like is here tonight."

Naruto perked up, his head swiveling around the room. "Hinata?"

Sasuke tried not to laugh at him, but he was making it pretty difficult as the blonde scanned the room in the most conspicuous manner possible. Suddenly he stood up straighter and ran a hand through his already slicked back hair.

"Got her, wish me luck."

Sasuke watched amused as Naruto darted across the room, slowing halfway to the bar to look much more casual as he approached the young woman. She smiled as Naruto greeted her and Sasuke turned away when he was sure Naruto was alright, his attention moving back to the young woman he hadn't seen in years.

Sakura Haruno had been crazy about him in school, though she was much more covert about it than people led her to believe. Where most had accused the relatively shy girl of being overtly obvious with her feelings, Sasuke had never felt like she overbearing. She never invaded his personal space like a few others had, and she never pushed him to return her feelings. Which he never did, at least outwardly.

The truth was, Sakura was exactly the kind of woman he could picture himself with. Smart, studious, independent, she was perfect in his opinion. But it wasn't his opinion that mattered back then. His father was a strict man, expecting no less than perfection from his sons. That also meant that any affection for the young woman had to be well hidden for fear of it getting back to Fugaku. Sakura was the kind of woman Fugaku wanted for his son as well, except of course for where she came from. Which meant, that in order to keep her off Fugaku's radar he had to pretend she was nothing more than the friend of a friend. If he had shown any interest he had no doubt his father would have found a way to keep them apart, even if it meant destroying her family.

So, they went through their school years as nothing more than acquaintances with a mutual friend in Naruto. They graduated high school and went their separate ways. Occasionally he'd see a picture of her on social media or Naruto would mention her in conversation, but that was pretty much the extent of it for awhile. And then she had come into the spotlight, her brilliance on full display as the University boasted her work in gene therapy treatments. At only twenty five, while still in Medical school, she'd created a new gene therapy protocol for illnesses passed down through family lines. It was revolutionary and had brought attention down on her from the best universities and hospitals in the world.

He'd kept an eye on her after that. She would make an excellent asset to Uchiha Technologies, of that he was sure. He'd said as much to their bioengineering department head when he started working at the company full time. A few weeks later he'd asked about her and was told she turned down their job offer in favor of her residency at the Konoha Teaching Hospital. He'd kept his ears open for word of her after that and of course he ended up working with Ino Yamanaka who was all too happy to talk about her best friend.

Now, with everything that was going on, Sakura's expertise seemed to be the perfect addition to his task force. Unfortunately he hadn't found the time or situation to approach her, at least not until now.

The man she was talking to looked away just long enough for Sasuke to swoop in.

"Dr. Haruno." he greeted, drawing her attention. She looked up at him surprised for the briefest of moments before she slipped into a more professional mask.

"Uchiha-san." she replied. The man she had been talking to turned to speak to someone else and Sakura looked grateful for it. "Can I buy you a drink?" he asked, gesturing toward the bar.

Sakura laughed. "It's an open bar."

Sasuke smirked. "Let me rephrase. Can I offer you an excuse to get as far away from here as possible?" he asked, his eye cutting to the older man who still wasn't paying any attention to her.

"Oh, well in that case, absolutely."

The bar was at the far end of the hall. Sakura ordered a glass of wine, while Sasuke ordered a glass of something aged. "So, how have you been?" Sakura asked, as she picked up her glass. "Besides the obvious, of course."

"All things considered, I'm alright." Sasuke replied, taking a drink from his tumbler. "I don't suppose Ino has mentioned anything about what's been going on."

Sakura nodded. "Little things here and there. She said you asked her to head up a… metahuman task force?"

"Yes, that's right. She was obvious choice for it. I'm hoping she and the rest of the team will be able to help everyone affected by the South Dock Tragedy." Sasuke explained.

"A cure you mean?" Sakura questioned.

"Ultimately, yes. I think it should be an option." he replied.

"An option?"

"Well," Sasuke continued. "It occured to me recently that no one affected by the explosion should be forced to take any "cure" the task force may come up with. Especially people like this, "Wonder Woman", who are using their newly acquired abilities to help people."

Sakura wasn't sure why she said what she said next. "How do you know her abilities are newly acquired?"

Sasuke looked confused. "They must be. Where has she been all this time then?"

Sakura shrugged. "I don't know, but if you ask that question, consider this; Where did the Flash come from?"

She made a good point. "You've certainly given this some thought." he told her and it may have been her imagination, but he looked pleased.

"I won't assume that Wonder Woman was made by that explosion, though, despite what I've said, I do think that. But it brings up the same questions people have been asking for years. Where is The Flash?"

Sasuke wasn't sure what to say, but in the end it didn't matter. It started with gooseflesh. He noticed the bumps rise on her bare arms and quickly realized he too could feel the cold slowly seeping in.

"Did someone turn up…" Sakura began, stopping short; watching in shock as her breath materialized before her. Sasuke breathed out to test it himself. "What the hell?"

Sasuke shook his head. He didn't know what was going on either, but as he looked around the room he could see the other guests realizing something wasn't right as well.

"Is that ice?" Sakura's question drew his attention back to her and he followed her line of sight. A few feet away sat the dance floor. On the polished surface frost was forming evenly, cracking as it lowered the temperature of the floor.

"Shit." Sasuke cursed under his breath, digging his phone out of his pocket. "We need to get out of here." he said and without much thought he grabbed Sakura's hand and started pulling her toward the door, all while dialing with the other hand.

 _"I'm not giving you an excuse to leave the benefit, little brother."_ Itachi answered after the second ring.

"The temperature is dropping significantly, so whatever's causing the ice is affecting the atmosphere too."

In the background Sasuke could hear phones going off one after the other.

 _"Emergency calls are starting to come in. Are you at Sage hall?"_ Itachi asked, concern lacing his no nonsense tone.

"Yes, we're trying to get out, but people are starting to panic." He explained. With Sakura in tow, Sasuke attempted to push through the crowd but the bodies were moving together as panic set in, making is difficult to move.

"Sasuke!" Sakura called out, stopping them short. He looked back to see her, starring in horror off behind them.

 _"Sasuke? You still there? What's going on?"_

"There's… there's a wall. A wall of ice." The wall steadily grew larger, rising up and moving toward them with increasing speed. "Shit!"

xXx

"Sasuke! Sasuke!" Itachi screamed into the phone. The sound of thick cracking ice combined with terrified screams lit through the speaker before the line went dead.

"Itachi, the cars are ready and they're rolling out the tactical mobile unit." his partner, Akasuna Sasori, told him, walking up. "What's wrong?"

"Sasuke is there. I just lost the call." he explained, grabbing his jacket off the back of his chair. He slipped it on then pulled his gun out of his desk drawer and clipped it into its holster.

"Then we better hurry." Sasori replied, grabbing his own gun.

The building looked untouched as they pulled up, but as they got closer they could see what was wrong.

"The entire inside of the building is sheathed in ice." The tactical commander explained as they entered the mobile unit. "Doors, windows, everything."

"Can you tell how thick the ice is?" Sasori asked.

"Three inches, give or take." Deidara spoke up as he entered behind them.

"So, how do we get everyone out?" Itachi questioned.

"The way I see it we have two options." Deidara explained. "Flamethrowers or controlled detonations."

"Flamethrowers?" Sasori sounded skeptical. "Do we even have access to flamethrowers?"

"Always so negative Sasori, my man. Of course we do. I've got a buddy who makes them in his free time. He's bringing them up now."

"In the meantime," The tactical commander spoke up. "We'll try detonation."

"Is that safe?" Itachi asked.

"It should be. From what we can tell, not many of the guests made it out of the main ballroom and any who did, didn't make it much further than that. All entrances where we'll make entry should be clear.

Itachi sighed. "Alright, whenever your ready then."

xXx

"Are you alright?" Sasuke asked as he helped Sakura to her feet.

"Yes, are you?"

Sasuke nodded taking stock of their surroundings. "Damn." he breathed, his breath condensing in front of him.

"We're trapped." Sakura stated, and Sasuke turned to look at her. She was slowly turning in a circle, scanning the entire pocket. The wall of ice had backed them against a wall, pinning them in an ice cave like structure. Behind them, along the walls, the windows were iced over with a thin layer of frost. The floor wasn't much better and they both struggled to stay on their feet. "What now?" she asked.

Sasuke wasn't really sure, but he made his way to the window and peered out. "Police are already responding." he told her. Sakura made her way over carefully, taking Sasuke's offered arm to keep steady on her feet.

"Maybe there's a way they can break the window, get a fire ladder up here." he suggested. He didn't like the skeptical look on Sakura's face.

"Whatever they do, they need hurry. We have about thirty minutes before hypothermia sets in." she explained. "And without knowing the exact temperature, I could be off. We may have more, we have less."

"Damn." Sasuke cursed. "I knew I should have stayed home tonight." he sighed.

"Likewise. Shishio owes me big for this." Sakura added.


End file.
